All posts tagged trade unions

While a nationwide strike dubbed the “Bharat Bandh” ended Tuesday, the standoff between Mumbai drivers and the company that manages the high-end fleet of Meru Cabs continued Friday.

European Pressphoto Agency

A driver sits inside a parked taxi during a one-day strike in Mumbai on Sept. 7.

Meru drivers say they want to charge higher rates to compensate for rising fuel costs. Meru management says it is happy to hike the rates, but only the government can set them. While the company has asked for a fare hike in line with that given to non-fleet taxis recently, the government has yet to respond, Gavin Dabreo, Meru’s executive vice president of marketing, sales and corporate communications, said.

The nationwide strike called by trade unions hit West Bengal and Kerala the hardest.

Loads of bank workers, airport employees and others responded to a trade union call for a national strike—“Bharat Bandh” (Shutdown India)—to protest inflation and a host of other issues on Tuesday. Turn-out was higher in the obvious places (left-wing West Bengal and Kerala) and lower in others (the tech hub of Gurgaon) according to news reports and comments on social networking sites.

Many people had thoughts on the second nationwide strike in two months.

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